This training grant application requests support for 8 pre-doctoral and 4 postdoctoral trainees in the Curriculum in Toxicology program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The proposed training program brings together a highly interactive and productive faculty of basic scientists, physician scientists and public health researchers from the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Pharmacy at UNC, plus outstanding researchers and mentors from the U.S. EPA and NIEHS in Research Triangle Park. The training program faculty includes 44 basic researchers and 11 DVM/MDs with proven research records in environmental health. The research interests of the faculty can be broadly divided into a) Mechanisms, b.) Systems Biology, Biomarkers, Metabolism, c) Organ-Specific Toxicology, and d) Carcinogenesis. This unique blend of environmental health researchers has worked together for the past 30 years to produce 134 Ph.D. graduates and 73 postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to productive careers in academia, government, and industry. The investigators' research training focuses on providing pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees the environment, infrastructure, and resources to conduct interdisciplinary cross-cutting research in environmental toxicology, systems toxicology/biomarkers, research translation, and animal models of human diseases. In order to maintain this successful training program, the investigators continuously update their training approaches, incorporating feedback from their External Advisory Committee and their own internal evaluation. During the previous funding period, the investigators implemented measures to enhance program cohesiveness, increased co-mentoring, and focused on interdisciplinary and translational research with critical clinical and public health impact. In the current application, they will add further improvements including a mentor led ethics seminar and opportunities to acquire professional skills. The Curriculum in Toxicology at UNC-CH has outstanding didactic instruction, excellent oversight, unparalleled resources, and a superb environment to support the proposed training. As outlined in this application, the investigators' previous record demonstrates that the outstanding new scientists they train will excel at interdisciplinary approaches that result in the mechanistic understanding and translation of how the environment influences human disease.
This interdisciplinary training program is designed to provide the necessary resources, infrastructure, and research opportunities for pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees interested in environmental health effects on human diseases. The goal of the Curriculum in Toxicology at UNC-CH is to train new scientists that are able to enhance their understanding of how the environment affects human disease.
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